The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared illegal and unjustified the Rs. 32 billion demand notices issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to 23 television channels.
PEMRA had sent the notices in March 2022, seeking to collect five percent of the channels’ annual advertisement income as a levy.
The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), along with several television channels including the Independent Media Corporation, challenged the notices in court. The IHC had maintained a stay order on the demands until issuing its final decision.
Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz issued a detailed 29-page written ruling on the petitions. The court held that collecting revenue prior to the implementation of the PEMRA Rules, 2009, is illegal and unauthorized.
In its decision, the court said PEMRA failed to prove a reasonable and appropriate connection between the five percent charge on annual advertisement income and the expenses incurred in carrying out its regulatory duties.
The ruling noted that most of the expenses listed in PEMRA’s report could not be directly linked to the supervision or regulatory actions related to licensed broadcasting entities.
The court emphasized that for a regulatory fee to be legally justified, it must be reasonably connected to the administrative and oversight framework under which licenses are issued and regulated.
The verdict further stated that if the collected funds are used primarily to increase revenue or finance development projects that are not directly connected to regulatory functions, the fee loses its legal basis. The court concluded that the justification presented for collecting five percent of annual gross advertisement revenue was insufficient.